The largest space agency NASA, as it became known recently, is not just interested in sending significantly more women into space. The bottom line is that the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has appointed Dr. Laurie Leshin of Worcester Polytechnic Institute as its first female director. Thus, she will take up her position relatively soon, namely on May 16, thus replacing former director Michael Watkins, who, by the way, retired in August 2021.
Moreover, she will also replace Lieutenant General Larry James, interim director, in a corresponding manner. And yes, as a result, she will also be Vice President of the California Institute of Technology, which runs the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. And in general, Lori Leshin has quite a lot of experience both in science and in the field of discovering new horizons. She, for example, previously held leadership positions at NASA, including a key role as director at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
It should also be noted that, in the position of Deputy Assistant Administrator of the NASA Research Systems Mission Directorate, it was she who became the very person who laid the foundation for both commercial space flights and the entire Artemis project as a whole, which is currently assigned extremely huge hope. Also no less important is the fact that she was the dean of science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at one time, and also became the first female president of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2014. And yes, the new director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is also doing his own research.
She has, for example, been a supporter of and participant in Mars sample return missions, and has also helped study data from the Curiosity rover. And by the way, this appointment is also a kind of return to Laurie Leshine “in the same direction”, since she previously received a degree from the California Institute of Technology. The California Institute of Technology has already issued a statement saying that Lori Leshin was a prime candidate for the position of head of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory due to her “strategic approach” to science and technology, recognition of NASA’s leading role in science, management of complex institutions, and the ability to “inspire the next generation” of scientists and engineers. In other words, she is ideally suited for a leadership role in any organization where long-term planning is vital.
